Next story in Death of bin Laden

Video: Al-Qaida confirms bin Laden death, vows reprisal

>>>good evening. today, the
president of the united states
delivered the thanks of a grateful nation to a group of men whose names we can't know and whose faces we can't show. members of the
u.s. navy
s.e.a.l. team who pulled off the high-stakes raid that killed
osama bin laden
. the president went to ft. campbell, kentucky, where
halfway around the world
, we're still learning more about the raid, what was grabbed, the official confirmation of
bin laden
's death, and a potential threat to all of us once again. we start off with two reports tonight, beginning at the scene,
ann curry
on the ground in pakistan tonight. ann, good evening.

>> reporter: brian, good evening to you. and confirming
osama bin laden
's death today,
al qaeda
is clearly trying to reinvigorate its jihad and sent a message that its war on americans will go on without him. at the same time,
u.s. intelligence
officials tell
nbc
news
bin laden
was fully engaged in
al qaeda
operations a s at the time of his death. coordinated protested that announced the raid against the killing of
osama bin laden
in multipl cities today as
al qaeda
reacted for the first time. quote, soon, with god's help, we shall flip their celebrations into sorrow and their blood shall mix with tears.

>>soon could mean anything from the next three days the next three years. it's difficult to know and it's important to emphasize
al qaeda
uses its language whether or not it has an attack in score.

>>these images are the newest from inside the compound where they tell
nbc
news
bin laden
was far from retired and was
al qaeda
's operational leader.
u.s. intelligence
also tells
nbc
news, a lot of video as well as details of plots around the world and associates were found.
osama bin laden
's compound is just beyond these buildings, but today, the pakistani soldiers have told us all the media has to be pushed back and if they even see our cameras, they threaten to take them. local officials in abbottabad said the compound is now cleansed. they have as many as three of
bin laden
's wives in custody under interrogation. the cia asked for access to the wives, especially
bin laden
's last and favorite wife. she was known to be devoted to
bin laden
and was in the room when he died and she told interrogators that bein laden and his family have been living in the abbottabad combound for the last five years.
al qaeda
also said today it will soon release a voice recording of
bin laden
which it claims was made a week before his death.

ISLAMABAD — One of three wives living with Osama bin Laden told Pakistani interrogators she had been staying in the al-Qaida chief's hideout for five years, and could be a key source of information about how he avoided capture for so long, a Pakistani intelligence official said Friday.

Bin Laden's wife, identified as Yemeni-born Amal Ahmed Abdullfattah, said she never left the upper floors of the house the entire time she was there. Her name has also appeared in previous reports as Amal Ahmed Abdul Fatah and Amal Ahmed al-Sadah.

She and bin Laden's other two wives are being interrogated in Pakistan after they were taken into custody following Monday's American raid on bin Laden's compound in the town of Abbottabad. Pakistani authorities are also holding eight or nine children who were found there after the U.S. commandos left.

Given shifting and incomplete accounts from U.S. officials about what happened during the raid, testimony from bin Laden's wives may be significant in unveiling details about the operation.

Their accounts could also help show how bin Laden spent his time and managed to stay hidden, living in a large house close to a military academy in a garrison town, a two-and-a-half hours' drive from the capital, Islamabad.

The Pakistani official said CIA officers had not been given access to the women in custody. Already tense military and intelligence relations between the United States and Pakistan have been further strained after the helicopter-borne raid, which many Pakistanis see as a violation of their country's sovereignty.

The proximity of bin Laden's hideout to the military garrison and the Pakistani capital has also raised suspicions in Washington that bin Laden may have been protected by Pakistani security forces while on the run.

Risking more tensions, missiles fired from a U.S. drone killed 15 people, including foreign militants, in North Waziristan, an al-Qaida and Taliban hotspot close to Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said. Such attacks were routine last year, but their frequency has dropped this year amid opposition by the Pakistani security establishment.

Pakistan's army, a key U.S. ally in the Afghanistan war, on Thursday threatened to review cooperation with Washington if it stages anymore attacks like the one that killed bin Laden.

The Pakistani intelligence official did not say Friday whether the Yemeni wife has said that bin Laden was also living there since 2006. "We are still getting information from them," he said.

Another security official said the wife was shot in the leg during the operation and did not witness her husband being killed. He also said one of bin Laden's eldest daughters had said she witnessed the Americans killing her father.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give their names to the media.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's intelligence agency has concluded that bin Laden was "cash strapped" in his final days, according to a briefing given by two senior military officials. Disputes over money between the terror leader and his No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, led al-Qaida to split into two factions five or six years ago, with the larger faction controlled by al-Zawahri, they said.

The officers spoke to a small group of Pakistani reporters late Thursday. Their comments were confirmed for The Associated Press by the same security official who spoke about the shooting of bin Laden's wife and who was present at Thursday's briefing.

The officer didn't provide details or elaborate on how his agency made the conclusions about bin Laden's financial situation or the split with his deputy, al-Zawahri. The al-Qaida chief apparently had lived without any guards at the Abbottabad compound or loyalists nearby to take up arms in his defense.

The image of Pakistan's intelligence agency has been battered at home and abroad in the wake of the raid that killed bin Laden. Portraying him as isolated and weak could be aimed at trying to create an impression that a failure to spot him was not so important.

Documents taken from the house by American commandos showed that bin Laden was planning to hit America, however, including a plan for derailing an American train on the upcoming 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The confiscated materials reveal the rail attack was planned as of February 2010.

Late Thursday, two Pakistani officials cited bin Laden's wives and children as saying he and his associates had not offered any "significant resistance" when the American commandos entered the compound, in part because the assailants had thrown "stun bombs" that disorientated them.

One official said Pakistani authorities found an AK-47 and a pistol in the house belonging to those inside, with evidence that one bullet had been fired from the rifle.

"That was the level of resistance" they put up, said the official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

His account is roughly consistent with the most recent one given by U.S. officials, who now say only one of the five people killed in the raid was armed and fired any shots, a striking departure from the intense and prolonged firefight described earlier by the White House and others in the administration.

U.S. officials say four men were killed alongside bin Laden, including one of his sons.

Reflecting the anger in Pakistan, hundreds of members of radical Islamic parties protested Friday in several Pakistan cities against the American raid and in favor of bin Laden. Many of the people chanted "Osama is alive" and blasted the U.S. for violating the country's sovereignty.

The largest rally took place in the town of Khuchlak in southwestern Baluchistan province, where about 500 people attended.

"America is celebrating Osama bin Laden's killing, but it will be a temporary celebration," said Abdullah Sittar Chishti, a member of the Jamiat Ulema Islam party who attended the rally in Khuchlak. "After the martyrdom of Osama, billions, trillions of Osamas will be born."

U.N. human rights investigators also called on the U.S. on Friday to disclose the full facts surrounding the killing of bin Laden, in particular whether there had been any plan to capture him.

Christof Heyns, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and Martin Scheinin, special rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism, said that in certain exceptional cases, deadly force may be used in "operations against terrorists."

"However, the norm should be that terrorists be dealt with as criminals, through legal processes of arrest, trial and judicially-decided punishment," the independent experts said in a joint statement. "It will be particularly important to know if the planning of the mission allowed an effort to capture bin Laden."

It was important to get this information "into the open," according to the investigators, who report to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

An aerial view shows the residential area of Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden was found and killed by U.S. commandos.
(Asif Hassan / AFP - Getty Images)
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A general view of the town of Abbottabad, May 6. Bin Laden was living in a large house close to a military academy in this garrison town, a two-and-a-half hour-drive from the capital, Islamabad.
(Khaqan Khawer / EPA)
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Supporters of Pakistani religious party Jamaat-e-Islami rally to condemn the killing of bin Laden, in Abbottabad on May 6.
(Aqeel Ahmed / AP)
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A Pakistani woman photographs her daughter on May , at a gate of the compound where bin Laden was caught and killed.
(Aqeel Ahmed / AP)
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School girls pass by armed Pakistani policemen guarding the sealed entrance to the compound in Abbottabad, May 5, in which bin Laden had been living.
(MD Nadeem / EPA)
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A Pakistani police officer gestures at a checkpoint along a road leading to a house where bin Laden was captured and killed in Abbottabad. Area residents were still confused and suspicious about bin Laden's death, which took place before dawn on Monday.
(Anjum Naveed / AP)
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Part of a damaged U.S. MH-60 helicopter lies the compound. The helicopter was destroyed by U.S. forces after a mechanical failure left it unable to take off.
(Reuters)
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A still image from video obtained by ABC News shows blood stains in the interior of the house where bin Laden was killed.
(ABC News via Reuters)
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Aerial views released by the Department of Defense show the area in Abbottabad in 2004, left, before the house was built, and in 2011, right.
(Department of Defense via Reuters)
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Boys collect pieces of metal from a wheat field outside bin Laden's house, seen in the background, on May 3. People showed off small parts of what appeared to be a U.S. helicopter that the U.S. says malfunctioned and was blown up by the American team as it retreated.
(Anjum Naveed / AP)
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An image from video seized from the walled compound of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, and released by the U.S. Department of Defense, shows Osama bin Laden watching TV. He is said to have spent his last weeks in a house divided, amid wives riven by suspicions. On the top floor, sharing his bedroom, was his youngest wife and favorite. The trouble came when his eldest wife showed up and moved into the bedroom on the floor below.
(Department of Defense via AP)
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Editor's note:
This image contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing.

Timeline: A timeline of Osama bin Laden's life

Considered enemy No. 1 by the U.S., the Saudi millionaire is the perpetrator behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Click on key dates to learn more about the founder of al-Qaida, an international terror network.

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